Trend Setting Usiminas Loan Gains Momentum

Ten banks have signed MLA tickets on a $1.2bn 3-part loan that Usiminas is syndicating. The deal was launched to general syndication last week, and a meeting will be held Tuesday in Sao Paulo to extend invitations to Brazilian lenders. A 5-year trade piece pays 110bp over Libor and a 7-year offers 135bp over Libor. A $700m 2-year liquidity backup revolver pays Libor plus 75bp on any drawn portion, and 45% of that spread if undrawn. Pricing on the deal is widely seen as reflecting new market conditions and was apparently launched to leave no question in the minds of prospective lenders. Usiminas forced other deals in the market to flex up to comparable levels so they could remain competitive. Retail can choose between tickets of $75m, $50m and $25m. Half must be dedicated to the 2-year revolver while the rest can be split evenly between, or put entirely into, either the 5-year or the 7-year trades. Up front fees for the $75m tickets are 45bp for the 2-year, 50bp for the 5-year and 60bp for the 7-year. The $50m tickets offer 42.5bp, 45.0bp and 55.0bp, while the $25m tickets pay 40bp, 40bp and 50bp. HSBC is leading. MLAs include ABN AMRO, Tokyo Mitsubishi, BBVA, BNP, ING, JPMorgan, Mizuho, Santander, Sumitomo and SocGen.